Cedar Point HalloWeekends 2015

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the theme park, it’s known as the roller coaster capital of the world with more high speed coasters and thrill rides than you can even imagine. We’ve been to the park three times and still haven’t ridden everything!

I had to work on Saturday, so we didn’t get out the door and on our way down until the late morning. After a 2.5 hour drive, we arrived in Sandusky, Ohio early in the afternoon.

It was supposed to rain until 2 p.m., so we weren’t in too much of a hurry to get there. As we walked up to the entrance, I felt a few sprinkles, but the rain held off for the rest of the day! After a few patches of extremely dark clouds, the sun peaked out for a couple of hours and it turned into a great day to be at the park. Thank goodness.

Last year, we visited the park for HalloWeekends with our friends Alex and Alex, and we’re hoping to make it an annual tradition. Year two was a great success!

I have only been into Cedar Park outside of HalloWeekends once before. I love visiting parks when there is a themed-out holiday and new attractions to check out. With tons of pumpkins, scarecrows, and haunted scenery, there wasn’t much that was left undecorated for the fall.

We stayed until the park closed at midnight and were able to ride and do close to everything we hoped to. Due to high winds, however, there were several coasters that were closed when we first arrived. We made a lap around the grounds and found what was open to ride first.

Rougarou was one of the few that stayed open, so we were quoted an hour and forty-five minute wait time! Since I am prone to getting motion sickness, headaches, and extreme nausea from riding coasters, I had no problem with waiting in line.

The park was considerably crowded for a rainy day! Luckily, we were only in line for about an hour and we didn’t have to wait any longer than that on any other rides for the rest of the day.

I was with a group of people who absolutely love roller coasters, so I did my best to hang with them. I usually go on every other ride or so, but I only sat out of two this time around. I’d say that is major progress!

(And my face describes my feelings perfectly.)

There are plenty of areas to spend time in between rides. Of course our group had to stop into the Barnyard to say hello to the farm animals.

They were so cute!

Before we left Michigan for the day, we dropped by Fresh Thyme to have something to eat for lunch during the car ride. I loaded up at the salad bar and also bought a few snacks to hold me over for the day. That plan worked out really well, and the first time we took a break for food at the park was for dinner around 7 p.m.

There isn’t much I have to get at Chickie’s & Pete’s, but it’s definitely worth a stop in for the crabfries.

Last time we ordered both versions, and this time we stuck to the crabby sweets – sweet potato fries. Both are SO good!

The haunted houses opened around 6 p.m., so we planned to rotate between houses and rides until midnight, when the park closed. It seemed like the majority of the houses and scare zones were the same as the year before, so we wanted to hit anything we missed last time.

One house we wanted to walk through was Eerie Estate. We only waited about thirty minutes for that one, since we hopped in line as soon as it opened. Honestly, it wasn’t all that great. There were a couple of good scares, but overall, the house was super quiet and not terribly scary. And, this is coming from someone who jumps and scares easily!

We tried to get into a few other houses throughout the night, but the lines were all 2.5 hour (or more) wait times! No thanks.

Instead, we rode more roller coasters and got our thrills from the Fright Zones. Those were just as good as the houses and you didn’t have to wait in line to experience them!

We planned to finish out our time at the park with an 11 o’clock showing of Skeleton Crew. I enjoyed the circus type of production with impressive performances that included the Russian bar, aerial silks, and balancing acts.

We had just enough time for two more rides on the way out, and I finished my time in the air with GateKeeper. It’s my absolute favorite coaster in the entire park because it feels safe and secure, rides incredibly smooth, and thrills you by going through narrow spaces. I’d stand in line for that one every time!

Other roller coasters that are worth waiting for (in my opinion) include:

Magnum – XL

Millenium Force (this was crazy at night!)

Raptor

Top Thrill Dragster (17 of the scariest seconds of my life)

Wicked Twister (I skipped out on this one, but everyone else loved it)

The park closed at midnight, but rides were still going for thirty or so minutes beyond that time. It was well past 12:30 by the time we walked out to our car and hit the road for home!

As much as I don’t particularly enjoy going to theme parks (mostly because I get motion sickness from rides), we always enjoy our time at Cedar Point.

I will say, however, that the ticket prices are starting to get a little ridiculous. You can buy a single day pass that includes free fountain drinks all day for $49.99 (online), which is pretty reasonable. The unreasonable kicks in with the ticket upgrades. They used to offer Fast Pass tickets (which eliminates a lot of the wait time at roller coasters) for an additional $50 or so. Now, it says they are anywhere from an additional $60 – $80 online, but the prices were actually $99 – $139 at the park during the peak time of HalloWeekends!

So, in order to enjoy all of the coasters without the long waits, you need to pay close to $200 a ticket? Hmm. I think I’d rather wait it out.

Other than our disappointments there and with the extremely long haunted houses lines, we had a great time. We definitely plan to come back in the future, and it was a great way to kick off the fall season!

About Heather

Heather is a blogger, Studio Manager, NASM-certified personal trainer, and new mom living in New York City. Life In Leggings is a personal healthy lifestyle blog that follows her adventures in the City and helps others reach their goals by sharing quick and healthy meals, challenging workouts, and everyday fitness tips. Thanks so much for stopping by!

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I’ve never been there for Haloweekends but I have been to Cedar Point and love it! It’s about a 3 hour drive, so we have done it in a day but I think we’ll make it a two day affair next time. We have Kennywood near us and their tickets are ridiculous as well, but you can’t even get fast passes there. What a fun weekend though! I bet you slept in yesterday since you didn’t get home til late!

ugh I hate when they do that! With the deals and all that, and they aren’t even deals… sometimes I can find some good groupon/living social deals, or same day deals online… but theyre still so expensive! Understandable, with the amount of insurance I’d imagine they’d have to have…. but still. Snacks and things like that should not be $7 for a slice of pizza. ya know?? I don’t know how families of 4+ go.Mary recently posted…Well that was a long week!

Growing up near cedar point I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to like roller coasters… but they scare the crap out of me! I do love going to cedar point for the food but haven’t been in years. Those sweet potato fries make me want to go right now!Kristin recently posted…The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

I don’t know how living in Ohio for almost 23 years I have never gone to the Halloween at Cedar Point… but I do remember last time I went riding the Dragster a million times! It was the most terrifying thing but afterwards I couldn’t help but wanting to go on it again!Hilary recently posted…Ohio, heres to you

I live near Carowinds and they just started their Scarowinds this weekend. I’m not much of a roller coaster person so I tend to not really love amusement parks 🙂 The look on your face in that one picture would be about the same look I would have on my face as well.Sam @ Grapefruit & Granola recently posted…Lately: September

Sounds like a fun time! I’ve never been to Cedar Point, but we have a Six Flags near by. I’m not the biggest fan of roller coasters, but they have a Halloween themed time as well and I LOVE haunted houses!Alexandra @ My Urban Family recently posted…Midwest Road Trip: St. Paul, MN

What a fun day! I love this time of year, even if Florida weather doesn’t always get the memo.

Love roller coasters and this year my boyfriend and I are going to Halloween Horror Nights for their 25th anniversary. The houses and scare zones look awesome!! Can’t wait.Sabrina recently posted…When The Weekend Has An Extra Day!